Drug testing debate continues in Baldwin County

"It's hard to explain to the commission... why we can't make sure employees we are hiring aren't drug users," said David Conner, county attorney.

The Baldwin County Commission is set to have more discussions next week about a drug testing policy that the county has been advised to enforce, but it is not.

The commission will meet at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday at the Foley Satellite Courthouse.

The commission is concerned about the limitations the drug policy places on the county's ability to drug test job applicants and county employees.

Hope Hicks, a county attorney, is researching if modifications can be made to the policy and it still "meet the test of the law," Chairman Tucker Dorsey said.

"I think we are getting there," Dorsey said.

The policy that attorneys have advised the county to enforce — but isn't — limits the pre-employment drug testing to applicants applying for jobs on a safety sensitive list. It also limits random drug testing to employees whose jobs are the on the list.

Safety sensitive jobs as those positions that if performed by an employee who is impaired could result in injury or loss of life.

The commission has failed to approve of a list of positions at its two regular meetings this month, making the policy unenforceable.

Attorneys have cautioned the commission about the county's enforcement of a policy that requires all job applicants to submit to drug tests and all employees to submit to random drug tests.

The attorneys have advised that a government's enforcement of the policy might be considered a Fourth Amendment violation, making the country vulnerable if challenged in a lawsuit.

Their basis for the advice is a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The court ruled that candidates for offices in Georgia shouldn't have to provide a negative drug test.

"It's hard to explain to the commission much less the public why we can't make sure employees we are hiring aren't drug users," said David Conner, county attorney. "I can do it because... you've got these cases here that say you might violate the law."

Commissioner Bob James has he hopes the discussions next week result in the county enforcing a policy that requires all job applicants to submit to drug tests.

He said drug tests help employers determine if they are hiring competent applicants.

"It's hard to know an applicant just from an application," James said. "Previous employers may not give you a good work history. They may just tell you, 'We just don't comment on it as a rule of our company policy.'"

James also said he wants to see the definition of a safety sensitive position expanded to include workers who handle sensitive information for the county.

He said those employees should be subject to random drug testing, too.

"If I got your name, birth date and social security number, I could destroy your credit," he said. "We do have sensitive positions like that where people have access to that information."